


Just Friends

by glitteringeva



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, One Shot, Post canon, au where they had a redemption arc, i needed that fluff in my life okay, merc is friends with weiss because it's hilarious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 02:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12546888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteringeva/pseuds/glitteringeva
Summary: Ever since leaving Cinder and helping to defeat Salem Mercury and Emerald have been sticking together. He's Emerald's friend, best friend, only friend. Nothing more, right?





	Just Friends

The worst part about having a week off was that she didn’t know what to do with herself. Emerald sat on the couch, watching one of Mercury’s stupid superhero movies while she tried not to be worried sick about him not being home yet. She had done laundry, even his laundry, had even cleaned the dirty plates he had been hoarding in his mess of a room, and there was nothing left to distract her from the fact that Mercury had texted her he’d be home in an hour this morning and now it was getting dark outside.

She was ready to rip him into teeny tiny pieces when the apartment door finally creaked open. She heard his heavy footsteps and the noise of him throwing his backpack into the corner of the hallway where he always left it for days. She closed her eyes, took deep breaths and started to count to ten. By nine he dropped on the couch next to her, letting out a long groan. “This mission was-“

“Did you lose your scroll?”

“No, why?”

She looked at him. He raised his eyebrows, looking at her as if she had lost her mind. Right now she wouldn’t even mind, just to have an excuse to scratch his eyes out. “You texted me this morning you’d be home in an hour.”

“Yeah, and it took a bit longer, so what? Didn’t know I can’t spontaneously visit some friends on my way back without asking you first.”

“Don’t make this all about yourself.” She stared back at the TV screen because she couldn’t stand his face right now. “You were on a mission. If you tell me you’ll be home in an hour and seven hours later I haven’t heard a word from you that could also mean you’re dead.”

He didn’t say anything and when she looked at him again he was smirking. “You were worried about me.”

“Fuck you.” She got up.

“Hey, Em. Wait.”

She left the room without looking back. “Go talk about it with your _friends_.”

“Oh, come on.”

She heard his footsteps behind her, but she went to her room and slammed the door before he could do anything else. She leaned against the door and waited for him to knock, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted him to knock. Then she heard his footsteps, water running in the kitchen. She took a deep breath. Of course she had been worried. He was her best friend, her only friend. But this was something they never said out loud and she wouldn’t let him use it to feed his enormous ego. She sat down on the bed, waited for the noises in the kitchen to die down so she could get herself dinner without having to look him in the eyes.

It took him half an hour to knock. Emerald looked up from her book. She thought about ignoring him, she really thought about it. “What?”

He opened the door and got inside, balancing a bowl in his hands while closing the door with a swing of his hip behind him. “Did you eat yet?”

She rolled her eyes. “No.”

“I cooked.” He sat down next to her. She could smell the food already, pasta arabiata. It was literally the only dish he could cook. Two forks. She looked at him.

“What if I had said yes?”

He shrugged. “I’d eat it alone while you watch me.”

“What if I threw you out?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t dare to.”

He never cooked when he came from a mission. Usually he just ordered take away and talked himself out of anything related to the kitchen for days.

She hated take away.

She took one of the forks and avoided to look at him. “Olives?”

“Black olives.

“You hate black olives.”

“Hate is a strong word for those tiny bastards.”

“Which one of your friends have you even visited?” She rolled some of the spaghetti on the fork.

“Be careful, it’s hot. Weiss.”

“I will never understand how you can be friends with that bitch.”

“It’s fun to get her flustered.”

She laughed and took a bite from the pasta. It could have used more chilli, but unlike the tandoori he had tried to make last month it was at least edible. “And she made you forget to text me?”

“I thought you wouldn’t… anyway. Wanna finish that movie when we’re done eating?”

“I didn’t get half of the stuff that was going on, let’s watch something else.”

She made him clean the pans while she picked the movie. It took him ages and when he came back she was already lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. She let him sit down and rested her legs in his lap, tossing the remote at him. “I will fall asleep halfway through, don’t wake me up again.”

“I’m the one who worked today.” He leaned back. “Another dog movie?”

“Why not?”

“Doe the dog die again?”

“Oh, still not over Marley?”

“Shut up.” He started the movie and looked at her. “You cried when we watched Oliver Twist.”

“You slept on my floor after we watched The Ring.”

“The heater in my room was broken.”

“Yeah, sure.”

She laughed and all of a sudden his hand was on her knee. She froze. Looked at him. He was staring at the screen and she wasn’t even sure why she made such a big deal out of it. He had to put his hands somewhere after all. They were just friends. It didn’t mean anything.

Why did she even doubt that?

She couldn’t focus on the movie. He could feel the warmth of his hand through her leggings and it bothered her that she even thought about it. If she couldn’t ignore it she had a serious problem.

His hand moved, just his thumb brushing over her knee for a brief moment. Her stomach tingled.

She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. Maybe she was just getting a cold. Maybe she was just overworked, tired. During her week off? Yeah, probably the cold was more likely.

“Not falling asleep tonight?”

“No, my neck always hurts when I sleep here for too long.”

“I can wake you up, or carry you to bed.”

“Don’t you dare.” She stared at the TV screen.

“You wouldn’t even notice.”

“You’re insufferable.” She got up and for a moment she wasn’t even sure what she wanted to do.

“Hey, wait, what did I do this time?”

“Just leave me alone!” She stomped out of the room. Shit, she was the one who made such a big deal out of it. Not him. And she didn’t even know why.

“Em, stop.” He was right behind her, grabbing her by her wrist. She pulled her arm away and he let her go, but she stopped. “I’m sorry for getting you worried, okay? But you don’t need to-“

“It’s not about that.”

“Then what _is_ it about?”

She stared at him. He seemed genuinely concerned and that was probably the worst part of it. “It’s not about you. I’m just tired, okay?”

“Is that your… woman’s stuff or something?”

“Mercury, I swear to god.” She groaned. “Period. It’s just a word. Say it. And I told you next time you ask me if I’m on my period just because I’m mad at you I will throw you out of the window.”

“There she is, the Em I know and love.”

“Idiot.” She turned around, running her hands through her hair. “I’ll go to bed. Don’t watch the rest of the movie, the dog dies.”

“Traitor.”

She went to her room and closed the door behind her. Only now she realised how tensed she was. She hadn’t felt that way around him in a long time.

_This is causing nothing but trouble, get over yourself, Em._

 

* * *

 

Leaving Cinder hadn’t been easy. They had managed to get their heads out of the sling by helping them take down Salem and Mercury’s weird friendship with Weiss had led to their part in the Fall of Beacon never becoming public. But Emerald was almost sure his new “friends” had no idea who he _really_ was, what he had done, and she had never grown beyond politeness with any of them.

She had absolutely no idea why she had agreed to come to this stupid party. She only knew it was someone’s birthday and that the club was loud and smelled like cigarettes and beer. She clung tightly to Mercury’s wrist, trying not to lose him in the crowd. They found them standing in a corner and when Mercury hugged Ruby Emerald figured out that it was her birthday. She hadn’t expected her to pick something like this for her birthday.

Emerald awkwardly stood behind Mercury until he was done saying hello. Was she supposed to congratulate her? But she barely knew her. Emerald looked at her and Ruby smiled, nodded as if she knew and Emerald looked away. She felt Mercury’s hand on her shoulder when he leaned down to talk to her. “I’ll get us something to drink.”

She turned around and wanted to tell him she’d come with him and _please don’t leave me alone with all these people_ , but he was already out of sight. _Alright, Em. Smalltalk. You did this before_. She turned back to his “friends” and tried to remember the name of that one blond guy.

“You did a mission for Glynda lately, didn’t you?” Weiss smiled at her, as if she actually wanted to know, and Emerald was almost sure Mercury had told her to talk to her because no one else would.

“A pack of Ursas that terrorised a small town in Vale, yes. Turned out it was only one Beowulf, but it paid well.”

“I think I would have given them a discount.” Yang took the glass Blake was holding and sipped on it. “After all it wasn’t that much work. Not that you should have done that, but… I don’t know, it’s just what I would have done.”

“I’m sure people from the village talked about all that with Glynda”, Weiss said.

“I’m sure they did that.” Blake nudged Yang with her elbow, but Yang just wrapped her arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

“Did I miss anything?” Mercury came just too late for Emerald not to feel horribly out of place. He gave her a glass with a clear liquid. She took a sip. Gin tonic. He really knew her.

“Not really.” Ruby smiled at him. “Does anyone want to dance? I don’t want to go alone.”

“I’ll go with you.” Yang gave Blake her glass back and then took Ruby’s hands in hers. “We will rock the dancefloor. Come on, guys. Dance with the birthday girl.”

“You know I can’t dance.” Weiss rolled her eyes, but they all followed Yang. All except her and Mercury.

“Not in the mood for dancing?”, Mercury asked.

“Absolutely not. Why are you not going?”

“And leave you alone? You’d never let me hear the end of it.”

“Go. I need some fresh air anyway.”

“Tell me when you get bored.”

“Because you’re less boring?” She nudged his shoulder. “Just go already before they get themselves a new annoying asshole to be friends with.”

“Ouch, that hurt.”

She smirked and turned around. The truth was that she didn’t want him to leave, but he wasn’t here to endure her bad mood.

The air was cold and smelled like rain. Two men smoked in the small alleyway behind the club. She ignored them, leaned against the wall and sipped on her drink. She wasn’t drunk enough for this. She wasn’t sure if you could be drunk enough for this.

“Need a cigarette?”

She turned her head. The men were now looking at her. Same bad haircut, bright red sneakers and an attitude like the world belonged to them. “I’m a huntress, I could break your bones.”

“I just wanted to be nice, I didn’t hit on you.” The men looked a bit bewildered before they turned away again. She sighed.

She was probably drinking too fast. When her glass was empty she was already feeling dizzy, the alcohol wrapping her head in a cloud. She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

“You’re such an emo.”

She looked up. Mercury had put on his leather jacket, she always told him she hated the smell but she wasn’t even sure anymore. “Done dancing?”

“Wanted to make sure you’re not sitting somewhere and thinking about your sad life again.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass.”

He leaned his shoulder against the wall and looked at her. She could smell his jacket even though he wasn’t even that close. “Sure you don’t want to dance?”

“I hate your friends.” She stared at her feed. “Or they absolutely hate me and I don’t even know why I said that. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“They don’t hate you.”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Em…”

“Don’t Em me.”

“Are you cold?”

She looked up. “I’m not wearing your stupid jacket.”

“Sure?”

She sighed. “Only because I’m really cold.” He smirked and she rolled her eyes. The jacket was warm and through the horrible smell of the leather she could smell him.

“If you want to go home…”

“No. No, I will manage. I’ll just get drunk until I don’t care anymore. But I think Yang really hates me.”

“Yang hardly tolerates _me_ , don’t feel special. I think you should dance, it would cheer you up.”

“And I thought you really knew me.”

He took her hand and pulled her in the middle of the alleyway. “Come on, Emmy. Have some fun for once.” He twirled her around and she bit her lip to keep herself from smiling.

“I hate you.”

“You don’t.” He pulled her closer and intertwined their fingers, wrapping his other arm around her waist.

“Can you even dance?”

“Of course, I took a dance class every Sunday, right after violin practice before my how to be a decent member of society lessons.” She felt his breath on her cheek. She didn’t dare to look at him.

“Don’t step on my feet with those metal monstrosities.”

“Ouch, that hurt.” He made a step backwards and she followed him, clumsy and uncoordinated.

“Not as much as when those crash my feet.”

He suddenly let go of her to twirl her around again. When she looked at him again he seemed to genuinely smile. It only lasted a heartbeat before it turned into his usual smirk. Her stomach tingled. He pulled her close again.

She wasn’t even sure if he had kissed her first or the other way around, but all of a sudden she felt his lips on hers and his hand on her cheek. The worst part was that even though she knew it was wrong, she didn’t manage to make it feel wrong, she didn’t manage not to want this. She pulled away. For a horribly long and awkward moment they just stood there, she stared at his lips so she wouldn’t have to look him in the eyes and his thumb brushed over her cheek before he pulled his hand away.

“That was…” She made a step backwards. Not to touch him anymore only made it worse. “That was stupid.”

For a brief moment he seemed angry, but then he just shrugged. “You’re just drunk, huh?” It almost sounded like an accusation.

She stared at her feet. No, they couldn’t… it was stupid. It never should have happened. The ugly truth was that as much as she hated him sometimes, he was the one person she couldn’t afford to lose. “Can we just go back inside and never talk about it again?”

He hesitated for a moment. “Sure”, he said. His voice sounded bitter. He looked at her for one long last moment before he turned around and she felt like someone had hit her right in the stomach.

He reached for the door and then turned around again. He looked at her, just like he looked at her when he was truly mad at her, then he suddenly came closer. She held her breath when he kissed her again, fiercely. He pulled away way too quickly and she was almost sure he would yell at her before he softly kissed her forehead. “I don’t want to never talk about it again.”

“But it’s…” She laid her hand on his chest as if she wanted to push him away, but she didn’t. “Isn’t that incredibly stupid?”

“It’s not the most stupid thing we’ve ever done.”

She leaned her forehead against his shoulder for a moment, waited for this to feel horribly wrong, but it didn’t.

_Why was it stupid again?_

“Let’s go back inside before they think you ran away from them.” She looked at him. His expression was soft. For some reason it calmed her down. “We’ll deal with this later.”

“Deal with it?”

“You know what I mean.”

“You don’t even know what you mean yourself.”

She sighed. “Whatever.” She turned around. “We’re going back inside, it’s getting really cold.” She didn’t feel cold at all. But this was too much, too nice, and every time something felt too perfect she knew it was going to fall apart any moment. She opened the door and when she looked at him again he was right behind her. She reached for his hand and he smirked.

“I still won’t dance”, she said. He had to lean in close to hear her. His thumb brushed over the back of her hand for a moment and it felt like it had always been that way.

“I’ll ask again after the next drink.”

“I won’t get drunk tonight.”

“I thought you already were drunk, wasn’t that why you kissed me?”

“I didn’t… you kissed me.”

He leaned in closer. “Sure about that?”

“If you don’t stop taunting me about this I will-“

“What, let me sleep on the couch?” He laughed and pulled her with him. “Come on, I’ll stop if you dance with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> It took me forever to come up with a title for this. Thanks to Morgan and Rampant for helping me with this.


End file.
